[1] His father devoted more attention to the business office and finances, while Baldwin took on expanded editorial duties for both the daily and weekly Republican.

[4][6] Josiah Holland generously stepped down as editor-in-chief of the Republican, allowing Bowles to return to his prior role.

[4][9] The long-running success of Bowles's newspaper was attributed not only to its content and local relevancy, but also to its "lively, concise, and professionally written style".

[4] Biographer George S. Merriam wrote, "His style was admirable—simple, direct, pure, forcible without being passionate, pungent without being vulgar, often delicately sarcastic and deliciously humorous, never egotistical, never suggesting the writer, always representing the journal, and this as the voice of the people—he was by nature, by culture, by experience the model modern working journalist.

[3][6] His trainees, Charles R. Miller and Robert G. Fitch, went on to become editor of the New York Times and Boston Post, respectively.

[1] Once his father died, Bowles had editorial control of the Republican; his influence was felt immediately, not only through heated discussions about President James Buchanan's administration, but also during the Civil War itself.

[5] Bowles told his readers, "Lincoln is a man of the most incorruptible integrity—firm as a rock against duplicity, dishonesty, and all dishonorable conduct, public and private.

[4] Rather naively, Bowles' "Yankee faith in human behavior convinced him that enlightened self-interest would compel Southerners to renounce the ideas and institutions for which they had fought.

"[11] In contrast to Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison, Bowles believed freed slaves needed protection from potential exploitation from their former masters.

[11] He strongly supported the efforts of the Freedman's Bureau and other organizations providing education and guidance, with military backing if needed.

[11] Although Bowles acknowledged that free land was fair compensation for years of enslavement, he saw greater value in encouraging the emancipated to work for wages, as this would develop a middle class with "bargaining power".

[11] Bowles played a major role in shaping what became Liberal Republican policies, along with identifying strategies and gaining support for a third party.

[11] With three other newspaper editors—Murat Halstead of the Cincinnati Commercial, Horace White of the Chicago Tribune, and Henry Watterson of the Louisville Courier-Journal—Bowles was part of the "Quadralateral" that tried unsuccessfully to secure Charles Francis Adams the nomination for president rather than Ulysses Grant.

[5] Although cautioned that his anti-Grant position could hurt the Republican's circulation, Bowles was undeterred, remaining anti-administration once Grant was president.

[1][3] In the disputed election of 1876, the paper favored the claims of Samuel J. Tilden, the reform candidate who won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College.

[4] Later on, the Republican accused railroad builder and politician Willis Phelps of being a "public robber and corrupter", as well as the "Boss Tweed of Springfield".

[1][15] These were published in the Republican and were also edited into a nationally bestselling book, Across the Continent: A Summer 's Journey to the Rocky Mountains, the Mormons, and the Pacific States with Speaker Colfax (1865).

"[15] To do this, Bowles did not submit the usual articles from a corresponding journalist, but rather used the more personal approach of a letter or an epistolary, addressing his readership with purposeful intent.

[1] Beginning in 1869, the publisher Harford condensed and serialized the two books into Our New West: Records of the Travel Between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, which was sold by subscription.

[1] In 1869, Bowles' book The Pacific Railroad Open, How to Go, What to See collected his articles that had previously appeared in the Atlantic Monthly.

[1][6][4] Bowles had a strong friendship with Susan and Austin Dickinson and frequently visited The Evergreens, their home in Amherst, Massachusetts.

[16][13] Apparently, Bowles found The Evergreens a refuge during his bouts of illness and when he was attending trustee meetings for Amherst College.

[16][12] Of Bowles, Susan Dickinson wrote, "His range of topics was unlimited, now some plot of local politics, rousing his honest rage, now some rare effusion of fine sentiment over an unpublished poem which he would draw from his pocket, having received it in advance from the fascinated editor.

[16] Some scholars believe Bowles was Dickinson's infamous secret love interest; others consider him a confidant and publisher of her poetry.

[12] Regardless, the relationship between Bowles and Dickinson was complex; the two had a falling out in 1863 that lasted eleven years, despite the fact that he still visited her brother next door.

[13] In 1875, Dickinson wrote Bowles again, saying, "We miss your vivid Face and the besetting Accents, you bring from Numidian Haunts.

"[4] Susan Dickinson noted that Bowles' presence at her home "seemed to enrich and widen all life for us, a creator of endless perspectives".

[16] Although he typically worked twelve to sixteen hours a day, Bowles also demonstrated a "nervousness" and was prone to periods of illness.

[5][1] One-time co-owner and editor of the Springfield Republication, Josiah Holland wrote, "The sparkle, the vivacity, the drive, the power of the Republican, cost life.

"[4] Bowles was in poor health for the last twenty years of his life, suffering from dyspepsia, headaches, insomnia, neuralgia; he continued to seek the curative benefits of travel.